Notes: Hi there! For an introduction I would like to say that this story will be quite long. Not sure how long, but it will be long. I will try to fit the plot into the current DCU without changing anything too important. So, this will not be set in an alternate universe. I will also try to make the characters as accurate as possible, but forgive me when I get carried away sometimes!

Chapter One

Of Storms and Warmth

It was one of those nights again. Lightning flashed in a blinding burst of white before the loud crack of thunder rippled through the Manor's antiquated walls. Rain poured in heavy torrents as wind howled into the abyss of the night. They hadn't even bothered with patrol. The streets of Gotham, usually teeming with crime and violence, were empty. The Gotham police force had nothing to report, and there was nothing Batman and his boy wonder could do.

But to be very honest, they would much rather stay in the warm comfort of the Manor than to go patrolling in such a storm.

Bruce was settled for bed, and for once in a very long time, he was allowed the luxury of sleep. But he couldn't. Instincts honed by years of spending his nights fighting crime kept him on edge. He was constantly agitated, even when he assured himself there was nothing he could do that night.

The only other time he could remember sleeping well was half a year ago, when he first took the orphaned circus boy in. Of course, he had still spent countless hours giving the boy his training and following leads that could bring them to Zucco. And yet, those were the times he had been able to sleep peacefully; without being startled awake at odd hours in the morning by the same, recurring nightmare.

He wasn't sure what made the nightmares stop. Maybe it was because he knew that what he was doing could spare the boy from years of anguish and hate. Maybe it was because he knew that he could.

That, first and foremost, was why he let the boy fight alongside him. Because Bruce understood. He understood the pain and injustice of it all.

He could still remember the night they finally captured Zucco as clearly as if it had only happened the night before.

"It's good to see you content with your acomplishments for a change, Master Bruce." Alfred had said when they came back in the wee hours of the morning. Then, quieter, almost whispering, with a gloved hand gently placed on an armored shoulder, he added. "It's high time you finally accepted."

Dick was all smiles and Bruce, well… Bruce gave Dick a pat on the back and smiled slightly at how happy the boy looked. He knew then that he had made the right choice. Dick had needed this.

But as he thought back now, it wasn't exactly Zucco that made Dick's smile as bright as it was. He could still recall the way Dick's blue eyes looked up at him with such- such-

He couldn't put a word to what he saw in Dick's eyes that night. He never could.

Later on that same night, Dick came back down to the cave, already in his pajamas. He padded almost silently on his bare feet through the cold and damp cave to where Batman was sitting. The boy told him that he wanted to stay by Batman's side as Robin; that he would never allow anything bad happen to anyone else ever again.

Bruce's first thought was to tell him no. The life he had chosen was filled with hatred and violence. He would never, ever, allow the innocent young boy share his terrible burden. He told Dick that. Dick looked almost pained.

For a moment, Bruce cursed himself. Told himself he had been stupid, naive. He should never have brought the boy into this. Should never have given him the option. Should never have taken him home to the Manor. He had been selfish. And stupid. It was a mistake.

He hated himself just a little bit more for it.

"But Bruce- Batman, it's not a burden! I can't let you do this alone…. Not anymore."His blue eyes were wide in the gloom of the cave, and his small hands looked so delicate as Dick tentatively placed them on the Bat's armored arm. Bruce remained silent for a while, thinking about that night he swore above his parents' grave that, for the rest of his life, he would fight against the force that took them away from him. The oath came from a mind plagued with pain and despair. Bruce could not bring himself to imagine the bright and innocent boy treading through the same path he was, even after everything.

Dick was not like him. And he prayed to whatever gods may be that he never would be.

It was a mistake.

But he had heard the silent sobs at night. He had heard the choked cries as Dick startled awake from troubled dreams. He had seen the pain and yearning in Dick's eyes whenever he thought nobody was looking.

So how could he ever forget how the boy smiled when he gave him a new home in the Manor? When he gave the boy the mask and cape?

Dick needed this. He knew Dick needed it. But that didn't make it right.

"Dick, I care for you. The life I have chosen for myself is not a happy one. Go to school, graduate, find a woman special to you and marry her… Have a real life, Dick. This is not for you." Something inside Bruce screamed. It was a voice, whispering into his ear. And that silent voice wanted so desperately. Wanted the light Dick brought with him to never leave.

Very silently, the whispers told him that, for once, he had made the right decision.

"It's not always like that. It- I-" Dick looked down at his bare feet for a moment, then up again. "I want to do this. I need this as much as you did- and still do." Dick's blue eyes were glimmering with the strength of conviction, and Bruce could not help but stare into them. For a moment the dark knight of Gotham, the man who was always three steps ahead of everyone and anyone, was rendered speechless by those blue depths of Dick's eyes.

By Dick's beautiful innocence.

How could he ever taint him? How could he ever allow anything to corrupt this boy?

After a pause, a smile lit up Dick's face and he added, "Our parents will be proud of us, I'm sure of that."

Hearing that, Bruce enveloped the young boy in a tight embrace. For the first time in a very long time, he allowed himself to be happy. Allowed himself to hope that, one day, Dick would forget and leave it all behind. That one day this boy would finally be happy again.

He could make that happen. He could try.

Yes. He could try.

Dick hugged Bruce back just as tightly. He felt so small and fragile underneath the Bat's thick armour. In that instant, Bruce knew that he would always, always keep the boy safe. He would never let anything hurt Dick. Not again. Not ever again would he let anyone get hurt.

Never again.

"Yes, Robin, they will be very proud." Bruce whispered, barely audible. The young boy sighed happily before he fell asleep, content and happy, in Bruce's arms. Bruce held him like that for a while. This young boy, only 11, had somehow managed to find happiness in what was left of his world. Something Bruce himself had never quite been able to do.

Bruce had carried him off to bed, and told Alfred not to wake him up the following morning. Alfred complied, but not without telling Bruce that, he too, should probably sleep a well-earned rest. Bruce did. And that was the night he slept peacefully, dreaming dreams filled with Dick's brilliant smile and the way his laughter echoed through the Manor's desolate halls.

But that had been months ago, this night wasn't the same. Bruce was staring, completely awake, at his ceiling. He wasn't looking. He was elsewhere.

He allowed the memories to linger, before another flash of lightning brought him back to reality.

He sighed, and thought about the room across the hall. Dick was probably asleep by now. He found himself wondering about the boy's dreams. Silently, he prayed they would be happy dreams.

Just then, a particularly loud crack of thunder ripped through the night sky. Bruce couldn't help being reminded of the night it all happened. The way his father tried his best to protect his family, and failed. The hollow, deranged eyes of the man with the gun. The dark crimson of his parent's blood as he watched their lives ebb away.

He felt a familiar twinge of pain twist in his chest and sighed once more.

He also remembered, in painful clarity, the look on Dick's face when the trapeze snapped. The raw horror when his parents fell. Farther and farther away from the safety of the platform, all the way to the hard and unforgiving ground.

There was a storm that night in the circus, too.

He had watched Dick's parents fall, and he watched Dick's desperation as he tried reaching for them. They both knew what it meant when their bodies would hit the floor. Yes, he knew.

But he still hadn't done anything. He had just wacthed, like everybody else. Dazed. Helpless.

He had failed Dick then. He could have seen it coming. He could have prevented all the tears Dick had shed if he had just paid more attention. If he hadn't been so ignorant, he could have-

Suddenly, the door to his bedroom opened. Distracted as Bruce was by his thoughts, he didn't hear the footsteps that came before the small whisper of a voice.

"Bruce?" It was Dick. He sounded small and… hesitant. Bruce immediately sat up, expecting trouble.

"Dick, what's wrong? Did the commissioner call?" Bruce looked over at Dick and saw that, at least, he wasn't bleeding or hurt.

"Nothing's wrong, you would have known long before I have if there was." Dick gave a slight smile that quickly disappeared. "Bruce, it's just that." Dick swallowed, trying to find the right words. "It's raining really hard and there's thunder and lightning and- you see, Bruce….."

Worried now, Bruce approached his ward and knelt in front of him. He searched the boy's blue eyes, they had always betrayed how he truly felt. But this time, Dick quickly turned his face towards the floor.

"What is it Dick?" Bruce tried as gently as he could manage. He wasn't good at this, but for Dick, he would try. For Dick he would always try.

"I- I can't sleep." Dick admitted sheepishly, and looked at his hands in embarrassment. Bruce can now see that Dick's face was tinged pink, and that his cheeks were damp. It finally came to Bruce that Dick had been crying.

He placed his thumb lightly on the boy's soft cheek to wipe away the tears. His hand was big on the boy's delicate face, and his finger was rough on the boy's tender skin. Dick looked up at the touch. His eyes were wet, and even in the dim of his bedroom, Bruce could see that he had been crying for quite a while.

Not for the first time, Bruce felt guilt settle deep inside his gut.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Bruce tried again, desperately looking for a way to make the sadness in the boy's eyes go away. He hated seeing Dick so distraught. Dick was meant to be happy.

Dick tried to say something, but he couldn't seem to say it out loud. Just then, another bolt of lightning flashed right beside Bruce's room and Dick almost jumped at the loud crackle of thunder that followed. His blue eyes were wide, and his lower lip trembled slightly.

"Bruce, I-I'm- scared." Dick's voiced cracked, obviously trying to hold back more tears. Bruce, among all people, knew that the boy wonder would not cry unless something very terrible happened. Bruce wrapped his arms around the shivering frame in front of him and gently stroked his back reassuringly. He murmured soothingly until the boy seemed to calm down a little.

"Bruce, can I… can I sleep here tonight?" Dick asked in a tiny voice, sounding so bizarre coming from the otherwise fearless Robin. Before Bruce could say anything, Dick piped in again with a new note of urgency. "My mother used to be there during storms like these. She- she told me she'll always stay. She told me she'll always be there- but- she's- she's-" The end of the sentence was intruded by a violent sob. Bruce could feel warm wet tears against the back of his neck as more and more sobs wrecked through the boy.

"It's alright Dick. I'm here." Bruce lifted the boy up into his arms and carried him over to his bed. Gently, he settled the boy into the warmth of his blankets. Dick immediately curled up into them, trying to make himself as small as possible from the crashing thunder outside.

When the boy started shivering again, Bruce pressed him tightly against himself.

Dick had his face buried in Bruce's chest as his sobs slowly died down, all the while Bruce slowly smoothed the boy's hair and whispered comforting nothings. He just wished he could promise Dick so much more.

After the boy's breath finally evened out, he looked up at Bruce with shimmering blue eyes.

"It's alright Dick." Bruce said again for the thousandth time that night as he gently brushed a stray tousle of hair from the boy's face. Dick's troubled eyes finally cleared and his pink lips curled into the sweetest smile yet- Bruce thought he felt something inside him melt a little.

"Thanks Bruce, you're the best." Dick said in a half-whisper and closed his eyes to drift into long-awaited sleep, still curled up in Bruce's arms.

Bruce said nothing for a while. Watching Dick's chest rise and fall steadily as he drifted into peaceful dreams.

The smile was still ghosting on his lips, the blush still gave his cheeks a pinkish shade. Bruce stroked the boy's dark curls, his eyes never leaving him. Bruce felt his senses dull slowly as he settled into sleep, strangely at peace with his ward curled up at his chest.

He knew then, that he did manage to find happiness in what was left of his world after all.

"Thank you Dick, for staying with me."

Notes: So, what did you think of the first chapter? Please review and tell me what you think, and what you would like to see in the future. I can't continue without knowing what you guys want, now could I? I'll update as soon as I know what to write about. Thanks a lot!

F.Y.I. you can also read this story on AO3 :)